Walled lawn area drainage question

Hi Kristen

Height is not an issue here.
The "norm" in S.A. is to have high perimeter walls and electric fencing on top of that.

Municipal laws allow the building of a wall up to a height of 2m (just over 6 feet) from the ground level of the property (not necessarily that of the adjoining property or street level).
Any higher then special permission is required accompanied by detailed drawings.

My perimeter wall is 2m high and then I have a 6 strand electric fence on top of that which adds another meter, so total height close to 10 feet.
The only problem is that any vegetation must not touch the electric fence and ideally not cover it to allow for easy inspection and maintenance.

 

OK. It looked "low" in your sketch, but if you can have taller then Bamboo will do narrow-and-tall (provided contained or using root-barrier if in open ground). You can cut the bottom leaflets off to get clear stems, which can look quite dramatic, and as the plants mature, and produce thicker culms, you can chop out the older, thinner, culms.

Some varieties of Bamboo are shaggy - even arching over at the top, so the more upright sit-up-and-beg types should leave your fence clear.

Here is a nice Grove of Bamboo, with the stems cleared of lower leaflets, at Will Giles (a well known exotic-style garden near me)

 

Yes, sorry the drawing was more of an initial conceptual/artist impression than a scale drawing.
So if I understand you correctly, using "planters" or containers for the bamboo, will help in controlling growth?

Perhaps what I should do then, is replace the hedge with bamboo and add a piece of two of reclaimed timber with some pyrograghy artwork on them.
Think it will go nicely.

 

Two types of Bamboos, generally speaking. Clumpers and Runners. The Runners are obviously bad news if not contained but even the Clumpers, over time or if they want to, can & will eventually "run". In a container, or with a root barrier around them, they can't run

In a container their growth will be less vigorous than in the soil, which I think will work well wrt having then as a long-thin feature.

I think your sketch looks great. How long is the "bamboo grove"? I think they are going to need a reasonable length stretch so as not to look cramped.

 

Thank you Kristen.

I was thinking of a ratio of 2:1 or even 3:1 (length:height) but can adjust it if need be.
Once I'm happy with the concept, I will make a scaled drawing and proportion things like the water feature, the bamboo grove and so on.

 

I agree, I reckon Bamboo will do 8', maybe 10', in a container (depending on variety) and I think a "run" of at least 20' would have the right balance

 

Thank you Kristen.
Now I can start with by scaled drawings and then start the hard work of building it.
I took a chance and bought the bricks (500) over the weekend plus some timber for the bench and the two verticals.
I reckon 500 bricks are far too many but they were going for a good price and will always use them else where.